• Loading stock data...
Thursday, March 28, 2024
2024 Best Venues nominations are open now through April 8! Submit Now

Eclectic Bouquet Reveals Changing Landscape of Sports

Don’t look now, but roses are playing a crucial role in this.

Sensuous, yet sporty… (Photo Credit: Softballfever.com)


My, the times, they are a changin’. Heading in to the New Year during a shortened week, scanning the headlines for a column idea it dawned on me- ROSES! Everything’s coming up roses… They serve as a perfect metaphor this month to observe just how much the sports industry has evolved and changed over the years.

The trope began January 1st with an all-time classic waged between the Georgia Bulldogs and Oklahoma Sooners during the Rose Bowl. What makes the Bulldogs 54–48 victory in the game particularly noteworthy is that it occurred not just during the Rose Bowl, but also as part of the College Football Playoffs. We all know how long that took…and of course the debate rages on.

Fans railed against the NCAA for years because of their disingenuous Bowl Championship Series system used to determine the matchup in the league’s title game. The BCS and previous iterations used a combination of polls, statistics, and computer selection methods to determine team rankings, with the top two schools left to face off in a one-and-done championship game. Prior to 2014, the Rose-and all other- Bowls were essentially window dressing; completely separate entities that had no bearing on who would emerge as the College Football Champion at season’s end.

Now, the crown is awarded at the end of a four team playoff, which involves two semifinals that rotate among the six major Bowl Games played on New Year’s Day. Two of the bowls-this year, the Rose and Sugar-act as the “first round” used to decide who will face off in the Championship game.

CFP Semifinal: A Rose by Any Other Name (Photo: Sbnation.com).

While the system is far from perfect, many are pleased that now it includes twice as many teams, involves some element of a playoff, and has two of the traditional Bowl Games remaining as a deciding factor in who wins the College Football National Championship every year.

After beating the Sooners in the Rose Bowl, the Georgia Bulldogs will play the Alabama Crimson Tide, who had to defeat the Clemson Tigers in the Sugar Bowl to make it to the College Football Playoff Championship Game. The Rose Bowl as part of a playoff leading up to a Championship Game: definitely not what the College Football “postseason” looked like when I was a little kid staying at Grandma’s to celebrate the New Year.

Later that night, fantasy football guru Matthew Berry began the New Year tweeting about ABC’s The Bachelor; infamous for the show’s climactic Rose Ceremony. One of ESPN and football’s biggest personalities has entered the fray analyzing…reality TV. (And no, that’s not my coy way of arguing that sports are the ultimate “reality TV.”)

Fantasy becomes Reality (Photo: Twitter.com)

Led by Matthew Berry and the “Fantasy Focus Football” podcast, ESPN has reached it’s sports/gaming tentacles into the tumultuous realm of overly-manufactured, rose-centric reality tv. The behemoth sports network has created a Fantasy Bachelor version of their popular esports game, complete with corresponding coverage. Did you ever envision a big-name sports personality doing play-by-play breakdowns of limo exits and date nights, forecasting who’s going to get the rose? Howard Cosell is somewhere spinning in his grave.

At the end of the month, we have Major League Baseball’s announcement of who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame- making Pete Rose an annual topic of conversation as votes are tallied in January. “How can it be a Hall of FAME without honoring the All-Time Hit King??!” (Of course Pete Rose has been ineligible for consideration ever since he was caught gambling on sport and banned from baseball by the MLB).

And then we hit the “character clause…” (Photo: cbssports.com)

This year, that conversation has fallen into the periphery, with the real focus moving on to a debate about Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Steroids, and the role of Wins Above Replacement and other advanced statistics in assessing a player’s candidacy. Rose is no longer the hot-button issue; we’ll talk this month about the Hall of Fame without constantly hearing his name.

Moral of the story: Like a rose, sports is always growing and evolving. It’s beautiful (classic Rose Bowl game); emotionally jarring (Bachelor Rose ceremony); and can be full of…thorns, too (Rose, cheaters, and the scandals that infiltrate the game).


This piece has been presented to you by SMU’s Master of Science in Sport Management.


Front Office Sports is a leading multi-platform publication and industry resource that covers the intersection of business and sports.

Want to learn more, or have a story featured about you or your organization? Contact us today.

https://upscri.be/f32ae1/

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

Sponsored

How Daily Fantasy Sports Solved NBA Fantasy

The remarkable growth of the #1 Discord sports server in the world.
Sponsored

The Pickleball Effect: How Tech Amplifies Sports From Niche to Notorious

A closer look at what defines the niche sports fan.
Sponsored

TelevisaUnivision’s Olek Loewenstein on Producing International Content at Scale

Olek Loewenstein on producing international content at scale.
Pat McAfee at Disney Upfront

Disney Leans Hard Into ESPN – And Sports – At Upfront

The Walt Disney Co. leaned hard into ESPN at its upfront.
podcast thumbnail mobile
Front Office Sports Today

MLB Opens Season With MLBPA, Ohtani, and Ownership Dramas

0:00
0:00

Featured Today

March 22, 2024, Brooklyn, NY, USA; Northwestern Wildcats guard Brooks Barnhizer (13) and Northwestern Wildcats guard Boo Buie (0) react in overtime against the Florida Atlantic Owls in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament at the Barclays Center.
March 27, 2024

‘An Expensive Game’: March Madness and NIL Collectives Are Intertwined

At schools nationwide, collectives are fueling NCAA tournament runs and vice versa.
Iowa’s Caitlin Clark (22) waits to be announced in the starting lineup against West Virginia in a NCAA Tournament round of 32 game Monday, March 25, 2024 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa.
March 26, 2024

The Women’s Trading Card Market Is Overlooked. Can Caitlin Clark Change That?

Traditionally, women’s sports cards have been a marginal part of collectibles.
The Sports Illustrated cover signed by Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, February 27, 2019, at Don & Charlie's, 7501 E. Camelback Road, Scottsdale. Don Charlie S
March 24, 2024

Everything You Need to Know About the Ongoing ‘Sports Illustrated’ Saga

Understanding the strange state of affairs for the nearly 70-year-old publication.

Careers

Powered By

Careers in Sports

Looking for a new job? Check out these featured listings and search for openings all over the world.
Live Nation
Multiple - USA Careers
Adidas
Multiple - USA Careers
Spotify
Multiple - USA Careers
Sponsored

How Sportradar and the NBA are Partnering to Fuel Fan Engagement

How Sportradar and the NBA are utilizing data to enhance fan engagement
Oakland-A's
April 25, 2023

Oakland A’s Could Share Stadium with Triple-A Team

The Oakland A’s could be searching for a place to play.
Sponsored

MLS’ Chris Schlosser on Pioneering the Digital-First Sports League with AI

Chris Schlosser discusses MLS’s growth and digital transformation.
Sponsored

How Daily Fantasy Sports Solved NBA Fantasy

The remarkable growth of the #1 Discord sports server in the world.
Titans stadium.
April 19, 2023

Titans’ Historic New $2.1B Stadium One Step Closer to Reality

About $1.26B in public money would go toward the new stadium.
Crypto-markets-sports-sponsorship
May 20, 2022

Crypto Crash Impact on Sports Sponsorships

Prior to the last two weeks, cryptocurrencies, NFTs, exchanges, and a host…
Insights-Wearables-Consumers
March 11, 2022

The Evolution of Consumer Wearables

The wearables market has seen incredible amounts of growth since the onset of the pandemic. Trends like telemedicine and remote patient monitoring have helped spur adoption and inspired new consumer products that allow for the tracking and collection of biometric data.
February 11, 2022

The Role of Live Sports in Streaming

The streaming wars have intensified as the field is as competitive as ever. One way to retain customers? The answer might be live sports.